Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, Vienna and Rome: set off on a tour of European capitals to discover five exhibitions that you won't soon forget.

When MoMA settles in Fondation Louis Vuitton

Here is one exhibition you won't want to miss. Some major works from the collections of the legendary New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) are on display for the first time in Paris. They include Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and USA Today (1990) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres – just two of 200 works from six different MoMA departments.
Paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, films, digital works, performances, as well as architecture and design-related items… they all are faithful representations of the collections of one of the most famous museums in the world. MoMA has been invited to settle in for a few months at the hypermodern building of Fondation Louis Vuitton, designed by architect Frank Gehry. Chief Curator of Photography at MoMA, Quentin Bajac explains the approach: "With this new “Being modern” exhibition, we wanted to trace the history of modern art from the perspective of MoMA's collections.” And that they did!

This is the story of the conservation of works by Miró that the Portuguese state almost auctioned off, but finally held on to. It is only natural that the exhibition of these "salvaged" works arrives in Lisbon, at the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda. Entitled "Materiality and Metamorphosis", the exhibition brings together 85 little-known works by the Catalan artist covering six decades of his career. Robert Lubar Messeri, the American curator of the exhibition and world specialist on the work of Miró, plunges you into the world of the artist's metamorphoses. Works span from 1924 to 1981, and everything from drawings to paintings, collages and tapestries. To better understand Miró's state of mind and creative vision, you'll have to pay close attention! Details make art.

A major event in the world of ethnology, this famous museum located on the Heldenplatz has just reopened after three years of renovation work. Vienna is the only place in the world to give such grand display to the gems of humanity's cultural wealth, spread over 14 galleries each exploring the historical relationships between Austria and the rest of the world. Most of the items exhibited – including 200,000 ethnographic objects, 75,000 historical photos, 144,000 printed works and 300 kilometres of film on history, culture, art and the daily lives of extra-European peoples – are tightly connected to the various travels of the Habsburg Archdukes. Benin, Ethiopia, the South Seas, Brazil, China, and the Himalayas are among the places on view. You will not forget enduring pieces such as the tremendous feather headdress from Mexico called the “Penacho de Moctezuma”, or those from the collection of famous British navigator James Cook (1728-1779). A perfect reason to come to Vienna!

Weltmuseum WienHeldenplatz
1010 Wien
+43 (0)1 534 30 50 52
Open every day but Wednesday
Exhibition open until 31 August 2018www.weltmuseumwien.at

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two geniuses of modern art: Picasso and Lautrec

A titanic undertaking, spread over three years, was necessary for the curators of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid to put together this unique exhibition. Now on display are a total of 112 works from around the world (only five come from the museum's own collections) of these two sacred creators of modernity – Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. When Pablo Picasso arrived in Paris in October 1900 at the age of 19, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was already an established – and infirm – artist, who, at just 36 years old, was unknowingly living the last months of his life.
The two artists would never meet, but their assertive personalities tied them together and they shared a common desire to break with academic art. This retrospective highlights their insatiable curiosity for the then darkest themes of Paris, such as their depictions of Montmartre nights, prostitutes, beggars, and circus people. Stop for a moment in front of Picasso's Mallorquina (1905) and Toulouse-Lautrec's Self-Portrait (1893), to consider the meeting of two historic works, which is also an opportunity to celebrate the museum's 25th anniversary.

Hurry over to Rome to admire a sumptuous exhibition that is opening for the first time there. Rediscovered in the 1930s, Arcimboldo has been reinstated as a precursor of Dadaism and Surrealism. Painter, poet and philosopher, born Giuseppe Arcimboldi (1526-1593), he has become famous for his “composed portrait heads” made up of fruit and flowers. The dozens of rare pieces on display include autographs, drawings and paintings from different collectors around the world (Basel, Denver, Munich, Vienna and Milan). The show took years to come together for your viewing pleasure, thanks to the indefatigable curator Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, one of the world's top specialists on Arcimboldo. Make sure you don't miss out on the last of the six galleries, called “Ridiculous paintings”: Arcimboldo excelled in the mastery of humour and irony, following in the path of Leonardo da Vinci and the Lombardi caricature movement. Look closely at the details of such masterpieces as Il Giurista and Il Bibliotecario, they will move you!